The airline will drop its service to London Gatwick and operate the service between Charlotte and London Heathrow, with an Airbus A330, featuring the carrier’s ‘Envoy’ business class, from March 2013.

US Airways CEO, Doug Parker, said: “We are thrilled to make this announcement and look forward to starting service between Heathrow and Charlotte in March.

“This new service will augment our existing trans-Atlantic network and provide more choices for customers in markets up and down the east coast.”

The new service will supplement the airline’s existing daily service between its international gateway in Philadelphia and London Heathrow.

The Heathrow slots became available when oneworld carriers – including British Airways and American – had to divest some of their collective slots there in order to win regulatory approval for a trans-Atlantic joint venture among oneworld partners.

US Airways, along with US Airways Shuttle and US Airways Express, operates nearly 3,200 flights per day and serves more than 200 communities in the US, Canada, Mexico, Europe, the Middle East, the Caribbean, Central and South America.